Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Selected to
‘25 Most Influential’ List in Radiology in 2006Addition of Three New, High-Powered MRI Systems, a First
in the U.S.,
Lands Penn a Top Spot

(Philadelphia, PA) - RT Image has chosen the Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) as one of its “25
Most Influential” movers and shakers in the radiology industry in
2006. Every year, RT Image magazine presents its roster of radiology’s
most powerful people, institutions and organizations based on who has
influenced the radiology profession in a positive way in the last year.

RT Image selected HUP for its recent installation of three new,
state-of-the-art, high-powered MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) systems.
The combination of the three units is a “Radiology First”
for any hospital in the United States, which is especially fitting since
HUP was the first hospital to get and use an MRI back in 1984. The new
machines include a 1.5 Tesla (T) wide-bore scanner designed for larger
and claustrophobic patients, a cardiac system allowing physicians to capture
a rapidly beating heart and a 3T scanner permitting sharper brain imaging.

The publication also noted HUP as an innovator in PET/CT technology.
Employing the world’s first advanced “time of flight”
technology, pioneered in part at Penn, HUP’s uniquely outfitted
new PET/CT system captures an amazingly precise simultaneous structural
and functional “look inside the body.” By being able to retrieve
these excellent high-resolution functional images of the body, radiologists
are better able to detect what is wrong and how to treat it.

Also, researchers at Penn will soon be armed with a new, cutting-edge
technological tool in the field of radiology - a 7 Tesla whole-body MRI
system. Penn’s Department of Radiology will become the first in
the Greater Philadelphia region to acquire one of these ultra high-field
scanners. Only a handful of them are in operation elsewhere in the United
States.

“It is an honor to receive this distinction. Penn has a rich history
of ‘blazing trails’ in the radiology field,” comments
Nick Bryan, MD, PhD, chair of radiology at Penn. “With
our ongoing innovative additions in radiology systems and technology,
we are in constant pursuit of higher quality images for better diagnoses
and treatment of our patients.”

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PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise
dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research,
and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first
medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt
of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S.News & World
Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools.
Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine
is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the
next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals,
all of which have received numerous national patient-care honors [Hospital
of theUniversity of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's
first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice
plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities;
and home care and hospice.